Memphis coach Lionel Hollins looks around the locker room and sees a bunch of players that could be his sons.

Literally.

He is coaching one of the youngest teams in the NBA. Memphis has 11 players that are 24 years-old or younger. And with that comes the ebb and flow and growing pains of players looking to find their way in league where experience is vital.

“Well, it’s not just basketball, it’s about life,” Hollins said. “It’s about growing up and being professional, handling your responsibilities, accountability, the maturity level. It’s really like when you have kids and you’re raising your kids because it’s not just what they do on the court. It’s the full package.”

Still, winning is the name of the game and the Grizzlies likely won’t do a lot of that this season. But the Grizzlies are fast and athletic and competitive.

Hollins wants his bunch to crawl before they walk.

“Forget winning, just learning how to play,” Hollins said. “You have to worry about learning the NBA game, NBA lingo, how the game is played, how it’s refereed, all the different rules. They have none of that. Then they don’t know the pro sets because they haven’t been in that setting long enough in college to understand the UCLA cut, hawk cut, 1-4 set, floppy set, all these sets. So you’re teaching everything that with more veteran guys they’ve gotten because they’ve been in the league. So, it’s a challenge every day.”

Memphis is off to a 1-2 start, with a loss to the Nuggets on Sunday night. They finished with 24 wins last season.

“The challenge is our focus can sometimes not be too good,” guard O.J. Mayo said. “But just for us to always stay focused together and understand we’re in it together and that if our team does well then all of will do well individually. So that’s the main thing, just our focus.”

HAPPY RETURNS?: It’s so far so good for Washington’s Gilbert Arenas, San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili and Boston’s Kevin Garnett after each missed large portions of last season with major injuries. Each made it through the first week of play with no setbacks. Agent Zero, who has played in just 15 games since 2007, has been particularly good, ranking in the top 10 in scoring at 28.5 points per game for the 2-1 Wizards.

The news isn’t as good for Milwaukee’s Michael Redd, who left his team’s game on Saturday night after feeling pain in the same left knee that caused him to miss the last 35 games last season with torn ligaments.

RADAR ALERT: BRANDON JENNINGS

Basketball is being slowly revived in Milwaukee, and Brandon Jennings is at the center of the resurrection.

Ok, it’s early.

But in just one week, the rookie point guard has taken the city by storm with function and flair. Jennings, who played last year with Lottomatica Virtus Roma in the Italian league, averaged 20.5 points, 6.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds last week. He nearly missed a triple-double in his debut, and his 24 points, three assists and three steals in a win over Detroit on Saturday had coach Scott Skiles raving about him to reporters.

“He came out in the third quarter and gave us a huge lift, got in a zone for a little while and showed us a whole other element to his game,” Skiles told reporters. “I told him I thought that was one of the most impressive first games I’ve ever seen by a rookie last night since I’ve been in the league.”

And Skiles, a point guard himself when he played, ought to know. He still owns the NBA record for assists in a game with 30.

CLEVELAND CONCERNS: The season started with two losses, but I wouldn’t worry much about Cleveland’s slow-ish start. Chemistry is the Cavs’ biggest issue, with the influx of new talent on the team. Shaq, LeBron, Mo Williams, Jamario Moon, Delonte West and Anthony Parker all have to learn to co-exist, and that doesn’t lend itself to winning right away all the time. Particularly when the opponent out of the gate is the Boston Celtics. But it will. The Cavs are too good and too well-coached to slip slide away.